Thanks Dad

I was 7 when I took my first picture. It was a photograph of my sister sitting on my mother's lap...screaming! She was crying because my father told me I could take a picture with his camera but she could not. She was only 5 and not happy with either of us that day.

That day was important for me. It was the day I realized what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was the start of my passion for photography, for saving tiny moments in time forever!

It was my dad who gave me this gift....this life long love, and although he is no longer with us, I think of him everytime I pick up my camera, and miss him each day.

And as we finish off this year in which my business has grown so much, I want to say "Thanks Dad" to the man who started it all.

As I Sit Here...

As I sit here sipping my coffee in the golden light of this gorgeous fall afternoon, I can't help thinking of all the great photo ops there are out there. Being a photographer means looking at the world differently. It means seeing a pile of leaves and images start flooding into your brain of kids jumping, laughing, giggling, or just hiding from their dad. It means seeing a school bus going down the street framed by maple trees and having this gut wrenching feeling that you missed a magical moment because you were too busy driving the car. It means waking up every day
with thoughts of images, lighting, and photoshop dancing in your head, and not being able to sleep at night because your brain is still thinking about your day's shoot.

Passion is what I am attempting to explain. Passion is what I feel when my camera is in my hand, and passion is what I photograph. What I hope for each of you is that you too find your passion, and get that electracal feeling surging through you when you are doing what you are passionate about.

With the sun now setting I am also reminded that no day lasts forever, and yet tomorrow there will be more photographs to take, more passion to capture.

If you and your family would like me to capture some special images of you, please call me at 603-582-1515. If I don't answer, be assured I am out photographing someone or something and leave a message.

Live, Laugh, Photograph!

Maryann
http://www.maryannmcfarlandphotography.com/

Congratulations Heather and Keith! A Sneak Peak

A wedding of two people who are so obviously in love, held on the beach, on the coast of Maine. What a lovely way to end the summer! Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your special day! I thought you may like a sneak peak at a few of your images.

Maryann

Weddings, Senior Portraits and what the heck have you been doing this summer?

It's summer which means weddings and senior portraits, two of my favorite things. Actually, when you think about it two of the most important images of your life. Both turning points, both milestones that mark not only an end but a beginning as well.

It's these portraits that tell the world not only who we are but who we are planning to be. As life progresses you look back at "when I graduated high school" or "when we got married". It is for this reason that you want to be sure to get great photographs of these events. Senior portraits need to be a reflection of you, not a quick quick hurry up event done in a production line style. It needs to capture the sparkle that we each have inside, and you can not hurry that. This is why I shoot senior portraits after talking with the senior, consulting with them on how they want to appear and making them comfortable with not only me but with having their photo taken.

When I photograph a wedding I like each to be meaningful. Not images "of the times" like the pearl in the shoe image that is so popular lately. But images that show who you are, who you love. Not only the person you are marrying, but your family, your grandparents, your parents, and often your children. Family is what weddings are about, family is what keeps us strong, and family love is what I photograph.

So, when someone asks me what I have been doing all summer I guess I can answer...saving moments in time that represent the beginning of something new!

Live, Laugh, Photograph!

Maryann

Senior Portrait Special Extended

Taking A Portrait

During my lifetime I have probably had only a few portraits taken. This is partially because I was always taking someone else's photograph and partially because I don't photograph well. It's sad but true. I have photographed a thousand faces, and yet I can't seem to have an image of myself that doesn't look like I have been drinking heavily. One eye is open the other closed, my face is contorted in an odd expression, and I look like I just woke up from a hundred year nap.

This may be why I am so passionate about portraits and taking the best image I can. My passion is capturing relationships and personalities on film (Ok, digital media) for eternity. Some cultures believe that when you photograph a person you take some of their soul. Honestly, I think they may be right. Well, not actually take a piece of their soul, but capture and give it a place to reflect. Of course I am not sure what this means for me. Hmm...I will have to give that more thought.

Portraits and photographs in general are the one medium that allows you to freeze time, saving a moment for others to enjoy and study, to allow others to join you and time travel if you will to where you are today.

Have you ever fallen into a photograph for even a second? It's that split second where you are there again, or there for the first time. Sharing the event, and sharing the moment. There when that ring was slipped on your mother's finger by your dad. There when you where born, but this time able to see the love on your grandparents faces as they held you. Photographs can do that, they can help us time travel and experience something again, or give a chance to feel the moment that was.

This is why I am passionate about photography. Taking a picture makes something last forever. Forever young, forever in love, forever....you fill in the blanks.

Have your portrait taken and give someone else the opportunity to know you as you are today. Whether you are young or old, you are in a very special time of your life, a time worth recording, a time that will never come again. Photograph the people you love and hold those images close, they reflect moments that are the real treasure in life.

Call or email me and let's talk about taking some portraits of you and your family that show who you are today. I promise to spend the time to help you create just the right image to represent your life and the people in it.

Live, Laugh, Photograph!

Maryann

Seeing a Photograph

Spring is in the air and the urge to take photographs is awakened in all of us who have been bitten by the photography bug. Spring is the perfect time to spend the day roaming around with your camera looking for something to shoot.

People are always asking me...where do you find things to photograph? Do I have a secret location? The truth is that the world around us is filled with amazing sites large and small that are just waiting to be captured with your camera. I learned this lesson as a twelve year old when I was given my first 35mm camera, by my Dad. I was always looking for the perfect shot, and constantly being told by my father that if I could not get a great shot in my own backyard then...I didn't need to go anywhere else! A great photographer can create an image out of what is in front of him.

As much as I would never of admitted this to him at the time, he was right. And now I tend to travel to get a great image less and less. Because I have learned to "see" what is in front of me. To "see" the ice on the tree limb sparkling in the sun. Or the way light hits the leaves in the fall, or the way a lady bug sits on a window sill in the warmth. Or how that fire hydrant down the street is so great the way it stands out against the the stone wall behind it.

"Seeing" is what we do when we take a great picture. It's what we do when an image is in our head before it is has even been taken. It's that flash of a picture that shoots through our brains at a hundred miles an hour and comes from who-knows-where!

Next time you have a moment, take your camera out in the yard and just start shooting. Listen to your inner voice, pay attention to the flashes of inspiration you get!

Live, Laugh, Photograph!

Maryann

Photography Talk

As time goes on and our technology changes the world around us, the tendency is to shy away from things
that we no longer understand. While the cameras of today are vastly different than the ones of just ten years ago, the basics of photography remain the same. A great picture tells a story. The story can be that of a momentous occasion or of a split second of time that is captured forever. While both of these stories are important to our lives, it is the small things that fascinate me the most. How a baby's fingers grab on to their granddad's, or how you can tell by the way two people look at each other if they are in love. Those are the stories I love to capture. Those are the moments I live to capture, and share with you.

Take out your camera and look for the little things in your life, take photos of the moments of everyday life that we take for granted.

Those are the stories of our lives, those are the moments of our lives.

Live, Laugh, and Photograph!
Maryann

Senior Portraits - One of he most important photos of your life!

Your Senior Portrait is one of the most important photographs you will ever take. I will
spend the time with you to get an image that not only looks like you, but captures
your spirit and uniqueness. Have an image taken that says who you really are!

Senior Portrait Special

Senior Portrait Special - No sitting fee if you
reserve your sitting time before June 5,07.
This is a $35 savings!

Sittings may be photographed anytime.
Book your time now and save!
Call 886-3383 to save your spot today!
Or email me!
Maryann.mcfarland@comcast.net

Blog Today ...Blog Tomorrow

You may notice that my Blog has changed. It seems
my original has been lost to the ethers. So here we start again.

As I go along I will be posting promotions you may want to
call about! So keep checking in!

McFarland's back!